The use of seed planters for agricultural purposes is well known. Seed planters are typically used to plant a row or entire field of a single type of seed. In research applications, it may be necessary to plant seeds of different types within the same field in plots of the same seed type. In the research environment, it is often necessary to precisely record the number of seeds planted and the location of each seed. It is necessary to separate different types of seed to avoid cross contamination. From plot to plot the seeds must be cleaned out and the next type of seed loaded in the planter for the next plot.
Another problem with prior art planters is the calibration of the planter is done once at the beginning of the day and then allowed to drift. By the end of the day, the spacing of the planted seeds may be significantly different than the spacing at the beginning of the day.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide an air planter having multiple seed systems on one plate.
Another important object of the present invention is to provide an air planter as aforesaid which separates the seed systems on the seed plate to ensure no cross-contamination between the seeds.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide an air planter as aforesaid having independently controlled vacuum cutoff to the seed plate in order to control the start and stop of the plots.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an air planter as aforesaid that allows the seed to be in contact with the seed plate or positioned very close to the seed plate while the seed is waiting for the start of the plot.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide an air planter with multiple seed systems on one plate having separated agitation grooves or ribs for seed agitation.
Another important object of the present invention is to provide an air planter that is computer controlled and monitored to ensure proper seed flow.
Yet another important object of the present invention is to provide an air planter as aforesaid in which all user configured variables may be input to the computer.
Still another important object of the present invention is to provide an air planter as aforesaid which calibrates itself continuously while operating by checking its calculated position against a known location such as a check cable ball, a GPS signal, a laser positioning system, an ultrasonic signal, an infrared signal, or a pre-measured and pre-marked field.
Yet another important object of the present invention is to provide an air planter as aforesaid that suppresses error checking functions at non-critical times such as between passes while the planter is turning around and not planting and re-enables error checking automatically before the start of the next planting pass.
Another important object of the present invention is to provide an air planter as aforesaid which senses the seed on the plate before it enters the seed tube to provide more accurate seed counts.
Still another important object of the present invention is to provide an air planter as aforesaid in which the signal from the seed sensor in the drop tube is filtered and made into a consistent signal before being sent to the computer and analyzed as a seed to be counted and not mistaken as debris.
Yet another important object of the present invention is to provide an air planter as aforesaid which includes a pressurized seed tube to limit dust in the seed tube to help ensure more accurate seed counts.
Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein is set forth by way of illustration and example, an embodiment of this invention.